Boys soccer: Scouting Fox Valley regionals
Class 3A
St. Charles East regional
No. 3 seed Larkin will go up against No. 13 St. Charles East in today’s first game. Elgin (No. 6 seed) follows against No. 11 seed Bartlett.
Larkin dropped a 3-2 contest to St. Charles East earlier this season and defeated Elgin 6-0, but did not play Bartlett.
The Royals are 14-6-3 heading into the game. Larkin has played six games in recent times without Erik Rodriguez, who played in a men’s league game and was turned into the IHSA, according to Royals coach Ken Hall.
Larkin forfeited two conference wins against Batavia and West Chicago, which cost the team the UEC River title. Larkin officially finished 3-2-1 in conference play after the forfeits.
Rodriguez is back with the team now and is the team’s leading scorer with 19 goals and 14 assists. Tony Escamilla has 18 goals and 11 assists, while Tony Hernandez has 11 goals and 15 assists.
“To be successful we need to be a team, play at our speed and not beat ourselves,” said Hall.
Elgin is 9-8-7 heading into the tournament. The Maroons finished first at the St. Patrick tournament and third at the St. Charles East tournament. Josue Chavez and Sammy Escobar are the team’s leading scorers. Oscar Rodriguez leads the team in assists. Elgin holds a win over St. Charles East this year.
“We can be really good or really bad,” said Elgin coach Dave Borg. “If we play like we did against Batavia and St. Charles North, we can win the regional.”
Bartlett is 9-10-2 and has received strong play from Anthonly DiNuzzo (11 goals, 10 assists), Ramiro Arroyo (7 goals, 5 assists) and Charlie Sordini (5 goals, 3 assists). Bartlett suffered a 2-1 loss to St. Charles East in its opening match this year.
“We have been able to create multiple scoring chances and nearly reached our goal of 50 scores this season (46 during the regular season),” noted Bartlett coach Ben Beary. “That’s our best regular-season scoring since my tenure as coach began. We have, however, fallen short in achieving balance on our offensive-defensive game, giving up more goals this season than in our last two seasons combined. To be successful this postseason, we need to limit our defensive mistakes. If we can do this, our offense can keep us in contention against any opponent.”
The two regional semifinal winners today will meet Saturday at 5 p.m. at St. Charles East for the regional title. The winner advances to the Bartlett sectional next week.
Jacobs regional
Crystal Lake South is the top seed here in this four-team field and will face No. 4 Dundee-Crown in the first game Wednesday. Jacobs (No. 2) and Huntley (No. 3) square off in the nightcap. Winners play on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the regional title and a trip to the Barrington sectional.
South brings a 13-8 mark into the game. The Gators, second in the FVC Valley this year by a game to Cary-Grove, are led by Charlie Oliver (27 goals, 8 assists) and Roberto Albuquerque (20-8). Steve Follmer has a 1.89 goals-against average and 4 shutouts.
South holds a 3-2 overtime win against D-C in a contest it trailed 2-0 at halftime.
“We need to get back to basics on both ends of the ball,” said South coach Brian Allen. “We need to vary our attacking style more and stay much more composed than we have been on the defensive side of the ball. We are a very inexperienced group, but have learned some valuable lessons and experience from our match against Cary (for the division title recently). If our work rate is there on both ends of the ball and we communicate and stay together as a team, then I like our chances. But every team in this regional is very evenly matched. There will be no surprises since we are all FVC Valley teams and very familiar with each other’s styles of play.”
Allen feels his team was helped by a strong nonconference schedule that featured the likes of Prospect, Neuqua Valley and Hononegah on it.
Jacobs is 9-11 overall and lost a recent 2-1 contest to Huntley. The Golden Eagles feature the likes of Mario Rako (8 goals, 6 assists), Brad Cleveland (6-3) and Mike Mamola (4-2).
“We need to keep working and keep generating chances,” said Jacobs coach A.J. Cappello. “Our team defense has gotten better as the season has gone on. We need to make sure we play 80 minutes. If we keep working, we have a chance to go on a nice run.”
Lukas Baker (13 goals, 6 assists) leads Huntley (11-7-3). The Red Raiders have been battling the health bug of late. They played against Prairie Ridge without three of their four starting defenders and the fourth starter did not start.
But when healthy, coach Kris Grabner likes what he sees with his team.
“We play very good soccer,” he said. “We have dominated games we have lost. We outshot McHenry, 22-3, Hampshire, 28-6, and Wauconda, 15-2, and lost all three. We really need to start scoring goals off the opportunities we create.”
Grabner feels the regional is wide-open.
“I truly believe any one of the teams in our regional could win it,” he said.
Lake Zurich regional
Fox Valley Conference Valley champion Cary-Grove is the top seed here and will face No. 4 Barrington in Wednesday’s first contest. McHenry (No. 2 seed) and Lake Zurich (No. 3 seed) follow. The winners play Saturday at 5 p.m. for the title and a trip to the Barrington sectional next week.
West Chicago regional
South Elgin, the No. 12 seed, will face host West Chicago (No. 5) in Wednesday’s first contest. No. 14 Streamwood will square off with No. 4 Lake Park in the finale. The winners of Wednesday’s games return to West Chicago Friday at 6 p.m. for a regional title game and a trip to Bartlett next week for the sectional.
Streamwood is 5-12-4 on the season but tied both Batavia and St. Charles North recently and has played 10 one-goal games this season. Mario Rodriguez leads the Sabres with 9 goals and 7 assists. Streamwood owns a 3-1 win over Lake Park this season.
Class 2A
Hampshire regional
Top-seeded Burlington Central will face No. 4 Marengo (10-6-4) in today’s 5 p.m. matchup at Hampshire, while the host Whip-Purs (No. 2 seed) will face third-seeded Prairie Ridge afterward. The winners square off Friday for the regional title and a trip to the Lakes sectional.
Central is 11-6-5 heading into the game. The Rockets split a pair of games with Marengo (4-0 win and a 1-0 loss).
“Heading into postseason play, we have had some great practices of late,” said Central coach Mike Gecan. “Now our team will need to apply what they have learned in order to be successful. I still have very high expectations for this group and I know how much they want to win the regional title. It is one of their big teams goals for this season. I will do everything in my power to help them reach it.”
Chris Gousios (9 goals, 4 assists), Chris Rodriguez (3-7), Josh Lung (5-2) and Alan Camarena (5-2) lead the way offensively for the Rockets. Goalie Riley Jensen has 10 shutouts and has made 118 saves this season while allowing only 16 goals. Central has outscored opponents 45-21 this year (12 shutouts).